This week's reviews: The CW/UPN on the Big Screen

If you had forgotten about
Veronica Mars (and dedicated
fans most certainly had not), director Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell have
resurrected the television series on the Silver Screen. The series, which ran from 2004 until 2007
on UPN and its cousin The CW, featured a high-school and college aged detective working on cases
and love in equal measure.

The movie, which raised $5.7 million through a Kickstarter project, appealed to fans because of
its writing and portrayals of the compelling Bell as a believable high school outsider. The movie
brought back a number of the supporting cast from the television series.

While the premise is strong and the fan base is somewhat rabid, the production is geared too
much toward those that have been there since day one rather than the people who would be introduced
to the characters in theaters,
according to critic Peter Hartlaub.

"The movie is practically gift-wrapped for fans, many of whom will actually see themselves
on-screen. (Being an extra in the movie was
one of the Kickstarter lures.)," Hartlaub said in his review.

"Newcomers will be less pleased to discover a product that resembles a TV show. The inside jokes
and receiving line of nudge-wink cameos only adds to the small-screen feel."